Sleepers - themes, key ideas, characters, structure, language and quotes PDF

Preview

Summary

themes, key ideas, characters, structure, language and quotes ...

Description

SLEEPERS Summary: Ray, ‘not exactly unemployed’, finds himself in a kind of stasis after his break –up, lacking motivation or energy to do much with his life. When he decides to follow others in the town and pilfer some railway sleepers that are being pulled up and sorted for disposal, he is caught by the police Title: stagnancy, lack of motivation, slowness. The wood of the sleepers represents the protagonist; ‘so much life in it, still, it just broke your heart to see it go to waste’. Not making the most out of life. Key ideas and themes Disappointment of reality Ordinariness Working lives Domestic -

Hope -

His relationship breakdown and lack of adequate employment means that he’s ‘waiting for things to go from shit to good’ (135) Sam’s youth and vitality brings an awareness to Ray of his own physical deterioration He wonders about what it would be like to have a son He resents that outsiders flattened the ground where the railway track ran ‘a plan dropped onto the town from above, not a single local employed’. (137) and tenacity The possibility of change Ray hopes that by taking sleepers to make Sharon an instant garden, he will rekindle their relationship. He then rejects this idea

Dealing -

Loneliness and isolation Sharon’s insistence that Ray move out has left him feeling even more isolated

Relationships Martial and de facto relationships Lack of/ poor communication Importance of physical touch Ray and his girlfriend Sharon view their relationship differently. Ray thought it was ‘going good’. Sharon claimed ‘it’s all going downhill’ Couple can view their relationship differently As Ray passes Sharon’s house and sees an unknown car and his brain is ‘like a dog jerking on the end of its chain over and over’ (133) He is obsessed and spies

with the unexpected People needing to get their lives back on track Grieving Despair and entrapment Being stuck in one of life’s ruts Ray, like the small town he lives is not moving forward ‘Ray was stuck in traffic, an unusual feeling in a town the size of his, inching forward through a detour around the railway line’ (127)

Characters Ray (protagonist) 35 years old. Aprt time storeman, lives in a mate’s shed since the break-up with Sharon. Has put on weight and been experiencing heart attack symptoms ‘the same deep dragging inertia he felt’ (128). Inability to get up, no motivation At the traffic lights ‘he idled’ (129)- this describes the literal action of his car, but is another example of the regular use of language relating to the theme. Is in a standstill The signs of the roadworks –‘SLOW. SLOW. STOP’. Symbolise his emotional state (pg 129). He is so static that he can even wake up in the morning ‘with an empty plate from last night still sitting on his chest… in exactly the same position’ as when he went to sleep (132) Thinks there might be something physically wrong with him, justifying the ‘bottomed- out energy, the sapped, exhausted feeling’ compared to others’ ‘focus’ (132) and when he tries to converse at the barbeque, he comes up with ‘nothing’ (133) He again finds himself in the car ‘at crossing, sitting motionless’ (137) – both the crossing and the lack of motion are symbolic of where he is at in his life He ‘kept finding himself… eyes closed like he was hibernating’ and had to ‘rouse himself to move’, (138) The one time in his life he decides to take the initiative, he cannot do it successfully

Context/ setting –geographical, historical, social How is the setting constructed in this story

Sharon- Ex- girlfriend, sarcastic Vince- Ray’s friend Frank- unemployed (18 months). Complains of corruption among the companies and the workers on the railway line. Is bitter that jobs are being given to outsiders Bernie- works at the warehouse with Ray. Tells Ray he’d grabbed a ute load of sleepers late at night to finish off his pool area. Convinced nothing will stop the townspeople from taking sleepers for their own use Steve- has a bbq which Ray attends the night he is arrested for stealing the sleepers. Steve’s BBQ area is bordered with sleepers Steve’s son: juxtaposition to Ray’s life

-

Country town Contemporary Australia

Elements of the short story: genre/plot /narration Structure: Opening/closing Point of view….

Language: Symbolism, metaphor, simile “ a white plate, round and innocuous as a moon’ (pg 132) “it was like gazing into a submerged shipwreck” (pg 132) ‘because the thought of trying to get a conversation going with any of them felt like heavy lifting’ (pg 134) “he could make out a blur, a jittery nebula like a reflected car headlight’ (pg 135) ‘Hanging around her place like a whipped dog’ (137) ‘motionless” (137)

Moments of conflict Quotes ‘And they all knew about him anyway; a 35-year-old man who lived in a Colorbond shed at a mate‟s place, not exactly unemployed but a part-time storeman. A liability, not a catch.‟ (Pg 134) ‘If he had a son now, he thought, he‟d be fifty when the boy was fifteen. So probably all for the best, then.‟ (Pg 135) ‘…It just broke your heart to see it go to waste.‟ (Pg 139) “SLOW. SLOW, STOP” (pg 129) “he’d suddenly felt the same deep dragging inertia he felt now” (pg 128) “Something creeping over him like a slow anaesthetic” (128) Questions

-

Third person limited (Ray), however does provide the reader with Ray’s perspective on life Ray is stuck in traffic, a form of inactivity in itself, and he feels himself ‘lapsing into’ a ‘lethargic kind of trance’ (pg 127)

Metaphor Ray’s final observation of the sleepers “…It just broke your heart to see it go to waste‟ (p.139) is ironic. He is unable to see, even at his lowest point, that he is trapped in a cycle of powerlessness and allowing his life to go to waste. Idea: like the town, Ray is not moving forward Metaphor of being stuck in traffic. Ray’s life is at a standstill. He feels entrapped and that his life is not progressing Ray is likened to the old red gum ‘hauled up and discarded… it just broke your heart to see it go to waste’. (139) Moments of resolution and hope ‘not anyone local, that’s for sure’ (127). Having a go at companies. Kennedy believes people in authority are taking away from communities Roadwork signs are a metaphor for his life TRACK UPGRADE DELAYS EXPECTED DETOUR AHEAD...